DC resetting his goals

Trampas

Clarke needs to reset his goals IMO.

He has won more than a lot of great golfers out there 1 major 2 wgc.

Seems like he has lost his mojo.

FixdePitchmark

Trampas wrote: »

Clarke needs to reset his goals IMO.

He has won more than a lot of great golfers out there 1 major 2 wgc.

Seems like he has lost his mojo.

I gave my opinion at the time that the British Open was one perfect moment in time for him and his game. Was accused of trolling. Can't see him make a further impact, maybe one or two more wins at minor tournaments. Captain of Ryder Cup team , then Seniors to enjoy.

thewobbler

Clarke achieved more in his career even before winning the Open than 99.5% of pros. As he now has that Major, he has achieved a better career than 99.9% of pros... even if he finishes last in every tournament for the rest of his career.

I'd suggest it's unusually nice to see a player revel in great achievements, rather than using those as a starting point for something else.

PRAF

Yep, definitely needs to reassess his goals. To be fair, I think he said so himself in an interview recently.

He is in danger of becoming a 1 major wonder. I wouldn't quite put him in the same class as Michael Cambell, Todd Hamilton etc because his golfing CV is clearly much better than them. However, it just shows you what an achievement it was for Harrington to push on and win 3 majors and overhaul his swing in an effort to win even more.

Clarke seems to have all the talent required. By all accounts he works very hard in practice too. Hopefully once he has his celebrations out of the way, we'll see a return of his best golf. He's definitely good enough to be a multiple major winner

k.p.h

The disparity between the last two posts is interesting. I tend to agree with thewobbler for some reason.

BoardsMember

DC still showing his class - "I'll try to find the answer in the bottom of a glass and see how that works"

FixdePitchmark

BoardsMember wrote: »

DC still showing his class - "I'll try to find the answer in the bottom of a glass and see how that works"

Must say was a bit embarrassed for him this morning, you could kind of hear an unsure nervous laugh from the Yank journalists. I think the party image is great , when you are playing well. He will go around in 65 today and I'm full of sh*t (lol). I played great pool with a few pints on me. As for golf , hangovers and golf do not go for me.

PRAF

k.p.h wrote: »

The disparity between the last two posts is interesting. I tend to agree with thewobbler for some reason.

Fair enough, we're all entitled to our own opinions. In my opinion Clarke is good enough to be a multiple major winner. I'm sure the likes of Harrington would readily admit that Clarke has more natural talent than him. DC is a much better ball striker than PH. The difference is all in their mentalities.

After winning the Open in 2007, Harrington dedicated himself to try even harder, push on and make the absolute most of his talent. He stubbornly refused to sink into the attitude of, 'well I've made it now, I can stop trying'. I'd love to see Clarke do the same.

SSK

The grand slam is a junket, not to be taken too seriously and Clarke's comments attest to that. Why anyone would be too bothered whether he shoots 68 or 78 in Bermuda is beyond me.

Lets be honest about things here though. Clarke hasn't played at a world class level for a number of years. He won the Open this year in very unique conditions on a very unique golf course. Rather than herald it as a return to the top for Clarke, it should be recognised for what it was; a very special moment for a player who most thought was past his peak.

I really don't think he needs to reset his goals, moreso he needs to embrace his standing in the game as a major champion and one of the top players of the last 20 years and just go out and enjoy next year with all of the exemptions and big money tournaments it brings. I believe he has another big win or two in him but its unrealistic to expect him to be competing at the top week in week out at this stage of his career.

FixdePitchmark

Hope he does not lose his game in the Bermuda Triangle. Hope he does not get lost in the Bermuda Triangle. (Sorry poor pun).

Watch he will be under par today.

Anyway , still love him after winning 900 euro on him in open.

Martin567

PRAF wrote: »

Fair enough, we're all entitled to our own opinions. In my opinion Clarke is good enough to be a multiple major winner. I'm sure the likes of Harrington would readily admit that Clarke has more natural talent than him. DC is a much better ball striker than PH. The difference is all in their mentalities.

After winning the Open in 2007, Harrington dedicated himself to try even harder, push on and make the absolute most of his talent. He stubbornly refused to sink into the attitude of, 'well I've made it now, I can stop trying'. I'd love to see Clarke do the same.

The above is mainly true. However, Harrington always had a far better short game than Clarke (probably because he had more practice!). This should be taken into account more when talking about natural talent. At their best, I would have had far more faith in Harrington getting up and down from a really tough position than Clarke when it really mattered.

golfwallah

Sure, Harrington has a fantastic short game, but Clarke's 2 amateur and 20 tour wins show he can do it!
Let's just hope he can prove himself with another Major Victory:)

Halfprice

Clarke is a great talent and he showed how good he was in the Ryder Cup after his wife had not long passed. Played some great golf. He just seems to loose concentration to easy, and as others have said he doesnt practice as much as Paddy. I'd say he knows well he needs to commit more to his golf game but on the other hand after what he has been through his family are more important and thats why he probably doesnt be working on his game as hard as others.. Still a class act i think

BoardsMember

As a golfer, he has loads of talent, as a man, he's an immature embarassment. Another fine quote from him - "I'm looking forward to a very bad hangover in the morning". It just keeps coming, I have no respect for him at all. I'm no fuddy duddy, I love to go out and get hammered, have a good time, but the repeated references to his drinking is just not on. And it cant be helping his golf either.

And please, if family was so important to him, he might have behaved a little better when his wife was alive.

Adiaga 2

That's a pretty horrible thing to say unless you know the man and his family very well which I doubt you do.

L.O.F.T

BoardsMember wrote: »

And please, if family was so important to him, he might have behaved a little better when his wife was alive.

Adiaga 2 wrote: »

That's a pretty horrible thing to say unless you know the man and his family very well which I doubt you do.

Whether he knows Darren Clarke or not its still a sh1tty comment and low even for an anonymous poster.

Adiaga 2

L.O.F.T wrote: »

Whether he knows Darren Clarke or not its still a sh1tty comment and low even for an anonymous poster.

Well that's me told. Just to be clear, I in no way agree with the comment made by BoardMember. I thought that was would be obvious from my post but apparently not.

thewobbler

There's an awful lot of begrudgery on this thread against an Irish man who has actually reached the very top of his chosen field.

I really despise the unwillingness to applaud nature of so many people towards other people's success. These people can't seem to fathom the difference between achievement and overachievement; they expect overachievement from anyone with half a talent. Instead of understanding that the personality (defect) required to attain perfection is unnatural, they expect it as a norm from talented people.

What are these unrelenting high standards borne out of?

It's the same sickening sh1te with Robbie Keane, who has scored more than twice as many international goals than anyone else, and has never ducked an Ireland game, yet large swathes of Irish support regard him as some sort of primadonna underachiever. Idiots.

L.O.F.T

Adiaga 2 wrote: »

Well that's me told. Just to be clear, I in no way agree with the comment made by BoardMember. I thought that was would be obvious from my post but apparently not.

You have the wrong end of the stick! I agree with your initial comments about boardmembers comment on Clarke

Adiaga 2

Fair enough, sorry. Just saw my comment quoted with the other and..well got the wrong end of the stick as you say.

Glad we all agree it's a horrible comment eeven for an internet forum.

BigChap1759

Clarke did brilliantly to win The Open but he looks as though he couldn't care less now when he's playing and his recent scores reflect this. Constant boozing and no practise is not a recipe for decent golf.

PRAF

I have no problem with Clarke enjoying himself. Some people like to go fishing and have a few pints, others would prefer hitting the gym and a night at the cinema. To each their own, he is 100% entitled to do whatever he wants. By most accounts that I've read, he isn't in any way lazy and is actually a very hard worker and a bit of a perfectionist.

I admire his achievements. He's a top golfer, no doubt about it and has had more success as an amateur and pro than 99.9% of his peers. However, where does he go from here though. I would love to see him reset his goals. He seems to be drifting at the moment

FixdePitchmark

PRAF wrote: »

I have no problem with Clarke enjoying himself. Some people like to go fishing and have a few pints, others would prefer hitting the gym and a night at the cinema. To each their own, he is 100% entitled to do whatever he wants. By most accounts that I've read, he isn't in any way lazy and is actually a very hard worker and a bit of a perfectionist.

I admire his achievements. He's a top golfer, no doubt about it and has had more success as an amateur and pro than 99.9% of his peers. However, where does he go from here though. I would love to see him reset his goals. He seems to be drifting at the moment

You are correct he can do what he wants and enjoy himself , but he won't be better then 100 % of his peers if he does. The reality of modern pro Golf.

mikeunt

lads give boardsmember a break
he/she probably just got of the bed on the wrong side
anyone can be incredibly cranky and irritable from time to time so lets cut some slack here
he/she knows what was said was totally out of order and will probably apologise shortly i would imagine

mikeunt

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

You are correct he can do what he wants and enjoy himself , but he won't be better then 100 % of his peers if he does. The reality of modern pro Golf.

i think it would take more than cutting down on the few pints to make him better than 100% of his peers
it would be a fairly lofty target for a 40something golfer with one major under his belt to just go out and be better than all of his peers all of a sudden

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

ccmp

Darren Clarke was at the top of the heap in terms of raw talent and ball striking ability for many years.
He enjoyed the lifestyle that came with it. I don't think that anyone can argue with the fact that he could have achieved a lot more if he hadn't been burning the candle at both ends.
That was his own call and fair play to him for beingforthright about it over the years. The crispness of his striking was still far superior to that of many more successful golfers. I was a big admirer of his over the last 20 years and was delighted when he won the Open.
However his behaviour and constant reference to drinking etc. is making him look extremely immature at this stage. If a GAA player or soccer player carried on in this manner they would be pilloried by all.

PRAF

mikeunt wrote: »

i think it would take more than cutting down on the few pints to make him better than 100% of his peers
it would be a fairly lofty target for a 40something golfer with one major under his belt to just go out and be better than all of his peers all of a sudden

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Agree that age and 'lifestyle' can be a factor for pro golfers. However, there are always exceptions.

Vijay - best golf of his life in his forties, winning all around him for years (including a few majors).

Miguel Angel - again, best golf of his life in his forties (and a man who likes a drink and a smoke by all accounts)

So far it doesn't look good for Clarke post his major. However, he can turn things around if he gets his head right

neckedit

And please, if family was so important to him, he might have behaved a little better when his wife was alive.[/QUOTE]

A disgusting comment to make, absolutely horrible!! who are you to judge DC or anybody? another unintelligent comment that is making this forum very unattractive.

BoardsMember

BoardsMember wrote: »

And please, if family was so important to him, he might have behaved a little better when his wife was alive.

Ok, fair cop, I should not have posted this. Whatever I think about how he behaved in the past, and what I actually know about his past, I should not have posted this here. But someone had just posted that the man is "class", and that kind of rubbed me up the wrong way based on what I know.

I definitely stand by what I said about his golf - that he has, and always had, bags of ability. But, as I said, I originally posted in response to a poster who said the man is "class". I've admitted that I should not have brought his personal life into the mix - but when someone tells me someone is "class", I think of people who stand head & shoulders above people as Men/Women to be admired, and I just dont see DC this way.

So, leaving aside personal stuff, I still dont see him as class - his behaviour in the aftermath of the win was quite embarrassing - enough has been posted about it here and elsewhere. I dont begrudge a man a celebration, nor dictate to him how he does it, except that in his position, he should not give interview after interview when in the middle of a big bender. And the references to heavy drinking have to stop too - it's just not good enough to keep coming out with these childish pathetic references to heavy drinking, hangovers etc. Most references of him in AP reports of the Bermuda event were related to his comments on drinking. Not alone is that not class, its pathetic.

I'm not jumping on any bandwagon of knocking Irishmen who do well, or anything of the sort. I was absolutely delighted for him when he won the Open. He spoke brilliantly, movingly, in the post-win speach. I just think that a man of his ability should be remembered & should be reported on for his golf, and not for his drinking ability. I'm not bothered if I come across as a fuddy-duddy, I just dont think its right. To try to maintain that his drinking has not affected him achieving his potential is hard to believe, if thats the line people want to take.

DoctaDee

Fair play to ya on the apology and what I think is a fairly reasoned post on the golf/social side of his life

k.p.h

Much better post this time BM. You discussion abut his drinking/golf is valid and I suppose should be taking into consideration when talking about DC and his achievements.

The previous post on the other hand was delving into an area that by standers like ourselves should refrain to comment or pass judgment on. This dose not just apply to golfers but TBH everyone we encounter. The simple truth is nobody knows the real root of problems and the reasons people act in a certain manner. Condemning and imposing judgment on things like this are like knowing the answer with ever hearing the question.

You know what you know and you think what you think so their is no getting away from that but in situations like this you really have to say nothing, you really don't have enough info, and you will never have enough because only the person in question knows.

When I sew all the interviews with DC after the open I really had to think hard about the man because no doubt he was doing plenty of odd ball things that didn't reflect greatly on him. But after watching them and the documentary I realized them has more defense mechanisms than the USA, and also to be honest he is not that great at expressing himself. I could see that this guy had a lot going on personally. In situations like that you just have to stop thinking about the person in that manner and think about what we are interested in and thats the golf. And in that respect DC definitely is a touch of class.

I think I'v posted this before but in my opinion this is one of the highlights of his career. Skip to 5.10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCuRb6aKUBA

What a legend, for that alone..

BoardsMember

K.P.H. - I see your point of view. I'm not immune to the guy's positive attributes - I'm inclined to like him, he's an entertaining guy, he has charm and charisma and a great personality, and that's what people see, identify with and like about him. Not to mention he's a massively talented golfer - if he never wins another thing he still has achieved an awful lot. I suggest we agree to disagree on what constitutes a class guy!